In attempting to increase the interest and play value of animated dolls and toys figures, practitioners in the art have utilized various devices to provide the appearance of animation in such dolls and figures. One such approach has been to interactively couple various combinations of torso and limb components to provide the appearance of self or auto motion in the toy figure when manipulated by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,362 issued to Renger sets forth an ANIMATED FIGURE TOY HAVING A MOVABLE TORSO AND ARTICULATING JAW in which a animated toy figure includes an upper torso and lower torso rotatably secured together. The upper torso supports a hollow head which is also rotatably mounted. The hollow head in turn supports a movable jaw and articulating means are coupled between the torso and articulated jaw to provide jaw movement in response to relative motions between the upper and lower torsos.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,726 issued to Flicker, et al. sets forth a DOLL WITH MOVABLE LEGS, HEAD, TILTABLE TORSO in which a doll is supported by a pair of legs one of which is pivotally secured to the doll torso while the other is hingedly coupled to the torso for pivotal movement about a fore-to-aft axis. The head member is interconnected through gear devices to the first leg such that relative displacement between the first and second leg members results in tilting of the torso and rotating of the doll head.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,611,626 issued to Bornn sets forth an ANIMATED DOLL including a doll's body, a head movably mounted on the body for side to side nodding motion and leg members mounted on the body for hand assisted walking motion. The legs are operatively connected to transmission mechanism which provides
a side to side nodding motion of the head in response to articulation of the leg members in a walking motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,475,858 issued to Adler sets forth a DOLL HEAD MOVABLE AS A RESULT OF MOVEMENT OF ANOTHER DOLL BODY PART in which a doll head is mounted upon a conventional doll body and a drive mechanism is connected between the doll head and a selected pair of limb members of the doll body. The drive mechanism and connected limbs interact to cause rotation of the doll head in response to arm motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,405 issued to Tepper sets forth a DOLL TWISTABLE AT THE WAIST in which a doll includes upper and lower torso portions pivotally interconnected at the waist. The doll head and arm are pivotally mounted on the upper torso and transmission means interconnect the head, arm and lower torso portion to transmit swinging movement of the arm to head and lower torso portions of the doll.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,137,371 issued to Marsh sets forth a DOLL in which a body portion supports a pivotally secured head portion and a plurality of limbs. The head portion and one of the doll's limbs are interconnected by articulating means which permit the head to nod or move through an arc in response to arm motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,155 issued to Balza sets forth a JOINTED FIGURE HAVING COOPERATING BEARING SURFACES OF DUPLICATE SIZE AND CONTOURS in which a toy figure includes a torso having the same appearance when viewed from either the front or rear. Means are provided for rotatably connecting the torso to the trunk portion of the doll along a forty-five degree planar surface. The toy figure or doll is thus readily converted between a standing position and sitting position by rotating the torso one hundred eighty degrees thereby changing the angle between the trunk and the torso.
U.S. Pat. No. 820,843 issued to Arnold sets forth a DOLL in which the doll body is supported upon wheels which permit the doll to be rolled across a supporting surface. Various articulating means are coupled between the rotating support wheels and various limbs and other body portions of the doll including a sound generator to provide noise and animation as the doll is moved or rolled across the support surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,685,358 issued to Harcourt sets forth a MECHANICAL MANIKIN in which a manikin includes a plurality of articulated body and limb portions supported by a fixed leg member and a supporting base. Various operating means are provided to cause the limb and body portions of the manikin to undergo predetermined motion patterns corresponding to the desired poses used in manikin displays.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,964,205 issued to Kuramochi sets forth a FIGURE WITH MOVABLE TRUNK, HEAD, ETC HAVING DRIVING DEVICE AND INDIVIDUAL OPERATION MEANS in which a motion toy is adapted to undergo various animation patterns such as clapping of hands, movement of eyes, movements of ears, and head shaking as well as lip motion and voice-like sound emission in response to an electrically powered motor within the toy figure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,566 issued to Liu Hong Ong sets forth a MECHANICAL DOLL in which a movable head and movable arms are supported upon a doll torso. Mechanical means are provided within the doll torso and are driven by a central thumb wheel drive mechanism to provide motion of the doll head and arm members in response to the manipulation of the thumb wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,318 issued to Tsiknopoulos, et al. sets forth a FIGURE WITH ROTATABLE TORSO AND VERTICALLY SWINGING ARMS in which an animated toy figure includes an upper and lower torso pivotally secured at or near the figure's waist. A pair of limb members are pivotally secured to the upper torso so as to permit vertical motion of the arm members in response to rotation of the upper torso. Thumb wheel drive means are supported within the lower torso and are operatively coupled to the upper torso to permit rapid rotational motion of the upper torso relative to the lower torso in response to thumb wheel motion. During upper torso rotation, centrifugal force is operative upon the arm members to cause them to rise vertically.
While the foregoing described articulated and interactive motion doll and toy figures have to date provided considerable animation and enhanced play value, there remains a need in the art for still further combinations of articulation and play motion in toy and doll figures.